Bashing: vb, hostile comment directed at a particular individual or group...

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

There is definitely a difference between bashing and criticism. I have no problem with people who want to intelligently debate/criticise something, using support from various sources instead of "The movies are so bad, and I hate them" over and over without providing any legitimate reasons why.

Bashing is often personal, in my experience, such as "The movies are so bad, I hate them, and you're an idiot for liking them"...Ok, maybe not quite so in-your-face as that, but something that usually implies that people who don't agree are not worth listening to and/or are less smart. This is often coupled with a refusal to pay decent attention to anything the other person says.

What isn't bashing is using evidence from the books and explaining why you do not like something that PJ did with the movies. This goes along with an understanding that people are probably going to disagree with you, and a willingness to be open-minded when entering into debate.

Criticising the movies in general should not be called bashing. It's criticising the movies/criticising people who like the movies while using a particularly unpleasant, disrespectful attitude and, perhaps, in a more personal "I-don't-like-you" way.

I am a big fan of the movies on many accounts, and enjoy a little friendly debate...but *friendly* is the key word there. Once the discussion moves out of "friendly" territory, bashing starts to happen.